A system and method for measuring forces and behavior of a material when subjected to an applied force in a contained vessel or mold in directions not aligned with the applied force. The utility meter housing includes metrology circuitry configured to generate metering information regarding electrical power provided to the load. In addition, the protection layer may be conductive to allow current to flow to the light emitter or non-conductive to block current from flowing from the light emitter towards the contact layer. The tension adjustment assembly includes a tension bolt threaded through a tension nut. Preferably, the circuit board has a through hole through which a thermally conductive member is inserted into the thermally conductive electric insulator with its lower end, and the LED device is placed onto the upper end of the thermally conductive member. Instead of storing and processing the echo signal, the first derivative of the whole echo signal is stored in digital form and then processed to allow for storing as large a number of samples possible in a limited memory without reducing the resolution and without complicating the processing.